The RISE project for Din College will enhance the research environment at this tribal college's campuses, which serve the Navajo Nation. The activities will encompass faculty, students, families, communities and Navajo professionals in a comprehensive effort to achieve a better integration of the academic and research functions of the college, and a more effective application of those functions within the wider Navajo and Native American community. The Din (Navajo) Educational Philosophy of the college will form the basis for a comprehensive process in which Navajo students conceptualize, plan, implement and validate their progress in achieving their academic and career goals. Faculty will be enhanced through annual workshops on research planning and proposal development in which faculty identify their strengths, interests, constraints, and intended directions for research. Plans will be submitted by individual faculty members for workshops, conferences, courses, or research experiences as appropriate. Students will be academically enriched through workshops/study groups/mentoring associated with key courses using collaborative learning techniques; Organic Chemistry will be developed and offered with assistance from NMSU; research lab facilities and research training activities will be developed and offered on campus; students will be engaged with Navajo and other biomedical scientists through exchange visits. Research placements/internships for students at on and off campus locations will be provided, with an additional one-credit research methods course for public health/epidemiology students. Seminars, college conferences and Community Research Conferences will validate the work of students and faculty in supportive collegial, family and community environments which will strengthen motivation and share positive academic experiences with relevant others.